Since when was that Australia and not just for Poms who couldn't afford the fare to the east?

You've been to Bali too?

@FrayedBear Bali isn't my cup of tea. Went there once. I like northern Thailand.

@David1955 There is still much of Australia not seen by me so I've never seen either. When I got off the boat in Freeo 40+ years ago it was reported that 90+% of Australians had never travelled more than 50 miles from their front doors.

@FrayedBear yes, we are mostly a coastal urban and semi urban population but our projected image is that of the interior ("Outback" ) culture where comparatively few live. Australia is the only country I can think of where you could watch that country's films all day and learn virtually nothing about the reality of people living there. The reason is our movies are mostly about that outback myth, one way or another.

No, not a hoax, but an illusion. The illusion and that Australia is a place where the weather is perfect 24/7/ 365 days a year, everyone is rich and spends all day on the beach, no one is unemployed, everyone is happy, and it makes Nirvana look like Hell. We know this illusion from our politicians and the media who tell the world this. The REAL Australia is one where there is a lot of unemployment and underemployment, lot of it hidden by phoney govt stats, where there is homelessness, a cruel social welfare system for poorer people, but every kind of lurk, perk and subsidy for comfortable middle class and rich people, a lot of tax on lower and my average incomes but not on high incomes, where rich companies pay little or no real tax, where our government spies on us online with powers that even the US right wing lunatics would be surprised to learn, and to top it off we lock up refugee children for years offshore, physically, emotionally, and probably sexually abusing them, because we want make sure we are safe from these non white people that it makes us feel better to look down on. On second thought, maybe you are right and it is a hoax.

@David1955 yeah, we could really be done for false advertising.

Yes, but I have spent the last few years building up an immunity to iocane powder,

@Meep70 I love it when other people get these quotes as well.

Where abouts in this vast land are you?

@Muzzgaity Just out of Toodyay.